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For those, such as myself, who came of age in the prohibition era, it was a tad surreal to see the giant electronic billboard overlooking Manhattan\u2019s Times Square (focal point of the world-famous New Years Eve countdown) displaying a \u201ccountdown to 420\u201d promoted by a leading brand of rolling papers. But that is what gathered revelers witnessed in the minutes leading up to 4:20 PM on the afternoon of Sunday, April 20.<\/p>\n
The gathered masses\u2014several hundred, at least\u2014exploded into cheers at the appointed moment, many brandishing giant inflatable joints with the brand\u2019s logo. These props were filled with air, not weed. But plenty of actual joints were also in circulation among the crowd\u2014as is perfectly legal in New York pursuant to the public-use provision of the 2021 Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA).<\/p>\n
\u201cJoining Cannabis Now in one of the worlds most recognized destinations\u2014New York City\u2019s Times Square\u2014to celebrate cannabis culture on 4\/20 with a wild countdown to 4:20pm on a giant billboard while puffing and sharing our B Noble and Jungle Gurl\u00a0pre-rolls with the crowd was a very special, only-in-New-York treat!\u201d says legendary hip hop pioneer Fab 5 Fredddy. \u00a0<\/p>\n This audacious cultural signifier was hosted by Cannabis Now and presented by Zig-Zag<\/a>\u00a0papers, perhaps still the most iconic amid the current profusion of brands.<\/p>\n In conjunction with the 4\/20 bash, Zig-Zag also held a retrospective exhibit on the brand\u2019s history. Dubbed \u201cZig-Zag Through the Years,\u201d this was hosted on the second floor of the luxuriously appointed\u00a0Charlie Fox<\/a>\u00a0retail outfit, on Seventh Ave. at 48th Street, just a few blocks up from Times Square\u2014which bills itself as \u201cNew York\u2019s Chicest Cannabis Dispensary.\u201d<\/p>\n On display was a wide array of Zig-Zag-themed artifacts spanning generations\u2014ashtrays, lighters, belt buckles, tchotchkes. \u201cSome were produced under license, and some is fan art,\u201d said Maggie Streng, director of brands with\u00a0Turning Point Brands<\/a>, Zig-Zag\u2019s California-based stateside distributor. \u201cIf it shows an image of a cannabis leaf, that pretty much means it\u2019s fan art.\u201d<\/p>\n And some of the artifacts are obviously from long before Zig-Zags were associated with cannabis. One souvenir\u00a0decorative cloth<\/a>, clearly from World War II, is printed with a 48-star US flag above the kicker, \u201cYou are safe when you buy Zig-Zag.\u201d<\/p>\n But Steng says the 4\/20 affair was a kind of coming-out party for Zig-Zag. \u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve been officially associated with cannabis,\u201d she says. This embrace is reflected in the product\u2019s new packaging, which now reads \u201cfor herbal use.\u201d<\/p>\n James Mallios, founding partner of Charlie Fox, also spoke to the success of the event: \u201cZig-Zag and Cannabis Now were fantastic 4\/20 partners. The Zig Zag installation was a huge hit with our guests and a natural fit for Charlie Fox. \u00a0We look forward to working with them again.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n That packaging still retains its traditional orange hue and emblematic image of a bearded picaresque rogue holding a hand-rolled cigarette (or joint). Many around the world who use the papers have no idea who this fellow is, only a vague idea of 19th-century French origins. It turns out that he is Boris the Zouave. This requires a little explanation.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Zouaves<\/a>\u00a0were a Berber tribe in the mountains of what is now Algeria who fought for the French in their conquest of North Africa in the 1830s, and then in many subsequent wars. Their exotic (for the French) garb became the inspiration for a military uniform that took on a cachet\u2014many Frenchmen and non-Berber mercenaries joined Zouave regiments just for the cosplay aspect of it. But they fought bravely, from the Crimean War of the 1850s to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. There were even \u201cZouave\u201d units\u00a0on both sides<\/a>\u00a0in the American Civil War.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0legend<\/a>\u00a0goes that Boris the Zouave was trying to have a smoke amid a pitched battle, when a bullet shattered his clay pipe. Undeterred, he ripped a strip off his gunpowder pouch and rolled up the tobacco in that\u2014thusly inventing the idea of rolling papers.<\/p>\n The papers were launched under the brand name Le Zouave in 1879, and were renamed Zig-Zag in 1906\u2014this in reference to the interweaving of the papers as they are pulled from the dispensary booklet, then a new idea.<\/p>\n Zig-Zag papers are still produced in France, and\u00a0varieties<\/a>\u00a0now include Ultrathin, Unbleached and Organic Hemp, as well as the classic French Orange. Turning Point (with its headquarters in Louisville, Ky., but mostly operating out of Santa Monica) has been the brand\u2019s US distributor since 1997.<\/p>\n One artifact Steng proudly points to is a Zig-Zag booklet signed by rap star Dr. Dre. Another is a rare clear-vinyl printing of Dr. Dre\u2019s 1992 album\u00a0The Chronic<\/em>\u2014its sleeve famously a take-off on the Zig-Zag logo, with the good doctor\u2019s face in place of Boris the Zouave\u2019s. This printing includes a cannabis-leaf image emblazoned on the vinyl\u2014while the sleeve is signed by both Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog, who also appeared on the album.<\/p>\n Steng calls the exhibit a \u201ccelebration of music and art from French elegance to hip-hop.\u201d She points out that for two years Zig-Zag has had its own stage at the\u00a0Rolling Loud\u00a0hip-hop festival, in both Los Angeles and Miami.<\/p>\n She also boasts that Zig-Zags have been referenced in several hip-hop numbers\u2014most notably Afroman\u2019s \u201cCrazy Rap\u201d and Eminem\u2019s \u201cThe Way I Am.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Grossman is Turning Point\u2019s vice president for corporate development. Of Wall Street background\u2014former CEO at Vindico Capital\u2014he\u2019s eager to expand the New York presence of Zig-Zag, which has traditionally been more popular in California. \u201cNew York is becoming the epicenter for cannabis culture, where culture movers from the West Coast and Europe meet, being equidistant between the two,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Grossman says of his new position with Turning Point\/Zig-Zag: \u201cThis is a passion project for me.\u201d A member of\u00a0NORML<\/a>\u00a0in his youth, Grossman now says he wants to take a stand on legalization, and play a role in the mainstreaming of cannabis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEighty years of prohibition has obviously done more harm than good,\u201d he concludes. \u201cI\u2019m fully in support of state-led legalization initiatives, but cannabis being a Schedule I substance under federal law is clearly misguided. We need to stand up for a safe and legal market. This is a $1 billion market, and there are still people behind bars for this plant. This has to change, and we want to be part of the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Cannabis Now 4\/20 Countdown Presented by Zig-Zag in New York\u2019s Times Square<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
For those, such as myself, who came of age in the prohibition era, it was a tad surreal to see the giant electronic billboard overlooking Manhattan\u2019s Times Square (focal point of the world-famous New Years Eve countdown) displaying a \u201ccountdown to 420\u201d promoted by a leading brand of rolling papers.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":80963,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[480,50,99,593,17069,14447],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80964,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80962\/revisions\/80964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabisnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mush.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nBoris the Zouave<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\u2018French Elegance to Hip-Hop\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\nCultural Breakthrough<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Cannabis Now 4\/20 Countdown Presented by Zig-Zag in New York\u2019s Times Square<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"